Fire & Water

Fire pits:

Which is better? Built in place or a mobile unit?

Which is better? Built in place or a mobile unit?

Neither, is the simple answer. If you’ve never had a ‘fire pit’ before, it might be to your advantage to start with a mobile unit from Lowe’s or The Home Depot (nothing expensive). There are some advantages to the mobile fire pit. For one, you’ll have an inexpensive opportunity to experience it and see how often you use it. The other is that it’s mobile and can be moved from one side of the yard to the other (if you live in Vacaville or Fairfield, you know the wind can shift around in your yard).

The built in place, custom designed fire pits, are almost pieces of art that should flow with the yards over arching theme, complimenting the architecture of the house and landscape. So, even while not in use, they look great. Those are for folks who are certain of both where and how often they’ll use them.

Of course, if you are going to go to the expense of having one built, you should know that in order for a fire pit to be successful, you need an ample supply of three things: fuel, heat, and oxygen. I’ve seen a number of these things built with little or no consideration for that last one. And there are a number of other issues to be mindful of with fire pits.

Water features:

They are not only wonderful to look at and enjoy, but can also be a useful tool in drowning out street noise, neighboring chatter, and so forth. But they also help muffle your private outdoor conversations (in case you have a nosey neighbor).

There are far too many types of water features to list in detail here. But I will share with you the two basic types that we are most commonly asked to build. One is the pond and waterfall. The other is a pondless waterfall. The pond and waterfall is exactly what you would expect. But there are two basic types that fall under that definition: living and non-living. The living type has its own ecosystem that naturally supports life (basically, fish and plant life). The other is largely a decorative kind that looks like it could support wild-life but has far less maintenance. The pondless water feature has become the most requested unit we’ve ever done. The pondless water feature has two popular benefits: it is child safe and maintenance is almost non-existent.

So if you are curious about the various types of water features and want to see one incorporated into your yard, we would be happy to guide you into the one that best suits you and your lifestyle!